Mounting a scope rail on a MAK-90?

Hi, folks. I have a MAK-90 (Chinese clone of the AK-47). My one does not have the side scope rail that is found on European AK-47's and derivatives. However, I'd like to be able to mount a red-dot sight on it.

Is it possible to install a side rail on a MAK-90? I imagine the alignment has to be very precise, and I'm not sure whether fitting it with screws or rivets would mess with the internal parts. Has anyone done this before? Can anyone recommend a good gunsmith or company to do the work?

If it's not feasible, can anyone recommend a good forward scope mount (i.e. a Scout scope mount) that will fit on or replace the top of the handguard? Alternatively, has anyone used any of the scope mounts that replace the rear sight?

Thanks in advance for your input.

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Nightcrawler

March 30, 2004, 03:33 AM

Check out Ultimak (http://www.ultimak.com). They're reported to be the best scout mounts out there for these kind of rifles.

http://www.ultimak.com/gallery/MAK1183.jpg

http://www.ultimak.com/gallery/img42.jpg

Master Blaster

March 30, 2004, 08:38 AM

I will share my experience with you on my saiga .308,

I ordered a low mount side rail mount from CDNN, its the quick release model. I mounted a red dot sight on it. Sunday I took it out to the range.

The stock is designed for the iron sights, I cant get any kind of a cheek weld on the stock my chin has to float 2" above the stock for my eye to be in line with the dot. And thats the low mount (Must remove to use iron sights). The quick release lived up to its name, and the whole thing fell off the gun on my third shot. Thats despite the tightening of the castle nut for a secure hold on the rail.

If you want to mount a scope on one of these you will need a different stock to get a cheek weld. Even with the lowest mount you can find.
Skip the 39.95 Bilorussian model with quick release.

I went back to the iron sights after that

Nightcrawler

March 30, 2004, 08:57 AM

The Saiga has a very different stock than the MAK-90. Still, one of those foam cheek pads that you can slide out of the way might be in order.

Also, there are a lot of "cheapo" scope mounts for AKs out there. The best ones are, of course, the ones that are actually made in Russia. Many Russian scopes come with siderail mount attached; these are what I'd recommend for using on an AK.

benEzra

March 30, 2004, 02:06 PM

Here's my (good) experience with a POSP 4x24 on a SAR-1.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57475

B27

March 30, 2004, 02:56 PM

This combination of a Choate stock, Ultimak mount and Meprolight sight performs very well on this Polytech-

http://www.fototime.com/2A792546AB536E0/standard.jpg

Shalako

March 30, 2004, 04:46 PM

This is the best product I've heard of for AKs: IOR Valdada Rail Mount (http://www.impactguns.com/store/ior_ak_side_mt.html)
A guy I know got one and installed the rail (sold seperately) by drilling and tapping the milled receiver of his SLR-95. He used a back-up nut on the inside of the reciever just in case the threads weren't sufficient. Because of clearance issues on the inside, he ground the nut to less than 1/8" thick. This mount leaves the scope slightly to the left of the axis of the bore, so a check rest was added via velcro so the iron sights could be switched back to quickly. The red dot and a two-eyes open technique work much better than the factory irons.

cosmonick

March 30, 2004, 09:09 PM

For a birthday gift, I took my brother's MAK-90 to Ohio Rapid Fire and had them put a side scope rail and a muzzle comp on it. They did a great job and did it for a reasonable price.

son of a gun

March 30, 2004, 09:15 PM

http://www.sksman.com/images/bsquareplus.jpg

I put one these on my Dad's Mak 90.
http://www.sksman.com/access/mounts4.html

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